If you like to fill your landscape with flowers perfect for a cut flower garden, you are likely familiar with Freesia.

• Cut stems at an angle to maximize how much water flowers "drink." • Always use a floral preservative to keep flowers fresh. Pieter Bouterse likes to use 7Up for freesia and aspirin for woody stems ...

The flowers look delicate – insubstantial even – but if you grow the right variety little can match the power of their perfume, says Sarah Raven Years ago, to apologise after a row, a boyfriend ...